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Wednesday, 18 September 2013

Gumtree, Ebay, Craigslist and other for sale site Scammers

Have you received a scam SMS message enquiring about an item you are selling on Gumtree, Ebay or other for sale sites? The txt will usually be generic.

Txt example: "Good Morning. Messaging about your Ad on Gumtree. I will like to know the condition and firm price. Kindly email me on jamestaylor062@gmail.com" (one of the many scammer email addresses used).

There are literally hundreds of email addresses used by these scammers. If you receive a scammer txt or email help others avoid being scammed by posting the email address and message on our topic at Scam Warners Forum.

The Scam
Sellers will receive an SMS requiring future contact by email (usually a gmail address). The buyer negotiates a deal, usually agreeing to pay the sellers advertised price, organises an overpayment payment through PayPal to cover shipping costs and lets the seller know a shipping company will be in contact.

The seller receives an email from the shipping company including instructions etc. The buyer confirms payment has been made to PayPal and that all that remains is for the seller to pay the shipping company through Western Union (untraceable transaction).

Of course no money has ever been paid to PayPal despite receiving a notification by PayPal Email. The scammer gets the shipping costs and the seller remains stuck with the goods.

It is relatively easy to identify the scam. Sellers will usually receive an SMS that cannot be replied to and with no specific information about the item the scammer wants to purchase (similar to the example above).

If you receive an SMS or Email that you feel may be a scammer do a quick search for their email address. It is very likely that a complaint has already been made.